DalSpace at Dalhousie UniversityThe DalSpace digital repository system captures, stores, indexes, preserves, and distributes digital research material.http://DalSpace.library.dal.ca:802015-08-02T07:18:00Z2015-08-02T07:18:00ZUsing Machine Learning to Improve Motor Imagery NeurofeedbackStory, Rosshttp://hdl.handle.net/10222/589812015-08-01T04:16:00ZUsing Machine Learning to Improve Motor Imagery Neurofeedback
Story, Ross
Machine Learning (ML) was employed to identify features in magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings of 16 participants performing motor imagery (MI). ML was applied to data obtained using three methods: 1) two sources localized to somatosensory cortex; 2) all 306 MEG sensors; and 3) 80 anatomical sources localized via known coordinates. A linear kernel support vector machine was fit to frequency features extracted by fast fourier transform and accuracy (ability to accurately class trials as rest or imagery) evaluated with leave one batch out cross validation. The two-source model performed poorly with accuracy of ~0.7, while the 80-source and sensor-level models performed well with accuracy greater than 0.9. Sensor-level models selected sensors analogous to C4, FC4, and F10 as key sensors. Use of ML to identify features in MI-based neuroimaging data can be applied to make MI interventions clinically feasible options through reducing cost, setup time, and expertise required to employ neurofeedback.
Designing Experience: Towards an Empathic Method of DesignHall, Tyler, M.http://hdl.handle.net/10222/589802015-08-01T04:15:33ZDesigning Experience: Towards an Empathic Method of Design
Hall, Tyler, M.
This thesis investigates the relationship between the physical environment and its influence on human emotion and thought. Through a series of design explorations, the project aims to establish an elemental understanding of the interpretation of experience. By translating the building blocks of experience into an architectural design language, the project explores the potential of architecture as a set of emotional cues. The work suggests that the experience of the inhabitant can be influenced by focusing on the organization and juxtaposition of inter/personal relationships, time, spatial reference, and sensorial stimulation during the design process.
The developed theory is tested against the conditions of a typical site: the urban parking lot. The project is an iterative exploration of design process. The resulting architecture is meant to engage us physically and emotionally, and, through the strategic organization of sequence and space, prompt a state of contemplation.
Designing Place Specificity in a Rural Coastal CommunityHemeon, Adamhttp://hdl.handle.net/10222/589782015-08-01T04:15:17ZDesigning Place Specificity in a Rural Coastal Community
Hemeon, Adam
This thesis explores how place specificity can lead to new economic opportunities and act to strengthen community. Place specificity refers to the morphological and climatic qualities of a given site, and how human activity engages with it. The testing ground is Port Medway, Nova Scotia, Canada. This town is situated within a series of interconnected conditions that have effect at different scales, informing the qualities of its place. Located along the North Atlantic coast, the Medway Harbour’s geography protects both its waters and its settlements from the forces of the ocean. Port Medway sits therein, facing a major river mouth where it converges with the ocean; this condition was the town’s lifeblood. Various events severed this connection to the river and harbour, and with it socioeconomic stability. This thesis proposes re-linking the town to this specificity of place as a means to achieve economic and community growth.
Articulating Ecology: Brownfield Remediation, Urban Agriculture and Prospects for Community RevitalizationKrop, Adamhttp://hdl.handle.net/10222/589772015-08-01T04:15:30ZArticulating Ecology: Brownfield Remediation, Urban Agriculture and Prospects for Community Revitalization
Krop, Adam
2015 has been declared the International Year of Soils by the United Nations. This proclamation emphasizes the soil as a basis for life and culture, its importance for agriculture, and its fragility when threatened by sprawl, industry and contamination. This thesis explores the remediation and temporary reappropriation of urban contaminated sites into a community hub for urban agriculture.
A brownfield site in the dynamic and gentrifying neighbourhood on Gottingen St. in Halifax, NS is selected as an incubator for culture and community development. A phased and temporary caravan of architecture derived from phyto- and myco-remediation technologies drives a process that unfolds over 20 years. As the risks posed to human health by contaminated soil dissipates, so too does the architectural performance. A clean site and stronger community networks are the remnants that facilitate the next phase of development as the process begins anew on the next contaminated site.